[410] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: Segregation on Campus
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Prez H. Cannady)
Tue May 1 09:22:39 2001
Message-Id: <200105011322.JAA29521@melbourne-city-street.mit.edu>
Date: Tue, 01 May 2001 09:21:33 -0400
To: Zhelinrentice L Scott <zlscott@MIT.EDU>, Alex Coventry <alex_c@MIT.EDU>,
mit-talk@MIT.EDU
From: "Prez H. Cannady" <revprez@MIT.EDU>
In-Reply-To: <200105010454.AAA24250@all-night-tool.mit.edu>
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At 12:54 AM 5/1/01 , Zhelinrentice L Scott wrote
>Segregation on Campus is a big issue. Next House is known
>for being predominately Asian. Particularly Chinese.
I'd like to absolve myself of any responsibility.
Anytime I get together with one group, the other
starts hating. I can only be in one place at
one time, and I can only fake being in three
simultaneously.
>New House is viewed as Chocolate City and the suburbs that surround
>it. Baker House is definitely seen as the "white" dorm and East Campus
>and Senior house are just themselves.
I disagree about Baker. Anytime there's a diverse
living group (and ATO is a diverse living group
by any standard I know), there's an urge to label it
white. Now Burton Conner is pretty diverse. Whitebread
as hell sometimes, but diverse. Ain't nobody hating on
us for our lack of diversity. Senior House is as
damned diverse as they get, to the point where I'm
like "woah. I need some homogenity for a while!"
East Campus is just laid out funny, so my only
crit against that house is architectural. You wanna
talk about white. Let's talk about the senior
administration at MIT. White, white, white, white,
white. Lotsa white folks, all talking about diversity
and stuff. Seems like their more interested in it
than we are. I wouldn't chalk it up to mid life
crises just yet, though.
>I don't know what the word is about MacGregor, but the fact of the matter
>is that racial segregation exists on this campus to some extent.
What's so bad about that? Desegregation was never about
integration (read "amalgamation"). It was about equitably
distribution PUBLIC services to all those who had a stake
in paying for it out of their tax dollars and whatnot.
Is the fact there are Black organizations and Chinese organizations
and Turkish organizations on campuses offensive to people?
Black living groups? Spanish and French speaking living
groups? Well, maybe the French can go but what about
Russian house? I got some of those emails fro the flame
war a while back, and I can't help think about how blessed
we are to have so many different pockets of people ready
to get along and still take that wonderful trip down
racial memory lane.
>Why is that? Why do a large percentage of the white, asian, and black
>people cluster together apart?
Two words: dance music. Here's another two, for free: drinking habits.
>Why don't they want to have anything to
>do with each other?
Sure they do. We're just not entirely used to each other.
How many tourists do we lambast a year for not celebrating
our MIT cultural heritage as fanatically as we do?
>As a black woman living in New House 4 (one of the many suburbs of
>chocolate city) I often get asked the question: Oh, you live in New
>House...do you live in Chocolate City? Then I have to tell them
>no. I live in New House 4.
I think a lot of people on campus...well, maybe not the
white ones and the Asian ones and the...well, pretty much
all the Negros probably have had that question asked.
I just say I live in Burton Conner. That's usually
the end of it.
>New House 4 is multiethnic we have
>Chinese, Malaysian, African American,American White, Thai, and
>puerto rican.
Tell'em to get out and start steppin for they peeps! You
go to Corona, it isn't about who's Black or who's white.
It's about whose Dominican and who's runnin chains.
>When I came to MIT I chose to live in a house that was diverse and
>NOT too close to chocolate city. I wanted to be exposed to other
>folk.
Smart move. I should've thought Rush through more thoroughly.
>so let's talk about why people choose the place they do to live, and
>how we as a community can foster more interactions cross culturally.
Same way I chose my major. The guy next to me signed up for
the same thing.
Rev Prez
* * *
Presley H. Cannady, Class of 2002, Electrical Engineering
Acting Chairman, College Republicans
CR Website <http://web.mit.edu/republicans/www/>
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